


Little Sister

by takahashi reina (reinahwanggg)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, But They're All Platonic, Crack ? Maybe. Let's See How My Humor Is First, Don't Think of This As Real, Everything About This Is Platonic, Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Tagging, Maybe a Little IDK Yet, My Imagination is Just Very Vivid, This Has Ships, inspired by a dream, tagging as I go along, this is random
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28880766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reinahwanggg/pseuds/takahashi%20reina
Summary: Brandi has insanely good luck. There's no other way to put it. How can you sit in a 24hr cafe for almost 24hours during mid-term break and suddenly meet your ultimate group? HOW ?! How can you take a picture with them and then suddenly, a year later, INTERVIEW them ? HOw ? Like there's no other way to put it, than to have insanely good luck.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 4





	1. This Is: Sleep Deprived Luck

**Author's Note:**

> No, this is not a book where the main character is someone's sister and the member is overprotective and forces his labelmate and his sister not to be together. This ain't it, and if you thought it was it, then sorry to let you down I guess. I'm noticing a pattern here, but this is inspired by a series of dreams that 've been having inconsistently during Resonance Era. Enjoy I guess.

_**Brandi wouldn't call it luck.** _

She'd rather blame it on being in the right place at the right time. Okay, maybe it _was_ luck that day. _Maybe_ it was the fact that she has been drowning in so much work, that she didn't _remember_ that they were coming to Toronto anyway. 

Like, sure she _obviously knew_ that they were on tour. She had seen the announcement they made, and Chenle and Sungchan were the king of spoilers so she _knew._ It's just that, she's a college sophomore who's double majoring in a country she had never even lived in. So no, Brandi wouldn't call it luck. 

In fact, she wouldn't call it anything but being somehow blessed with such a once in a lifetime opportunity. She just wished it happened aFTER she got a chance to rest and look pretty. 

The cafe she had been seated in for almost an entire day (it would've been an entire day, but sis had to wash her face ㅡ and her body ㅡ and look alive. she didn't wanna worry her brother) had started to pick up some speed as the midday rush started to drone by. Downtown Toronto wasn't as busy as she thought it would've been, but it still was. This _is_ _all_ a completely new environment that she still hadn't gotten used to. 

She had asked her brother to meet here there, instead of driving all the way up north to pick her up from her university. It was a good thing that he had agreed. It was also a good thing that she had fixed her hair before leaving as well. It was a mistake leaving an entire day early just to meet up with her older brother, but she was just that excited to see her family again. He even said that he had a surprise waiting for her. 

It was nearing one in the afternoon when her luck started to kick in. She had just came out of the bathroom with her hair slicked down and in one gigantic green puff. Her roommate had bought the hair wax and told her to try it. She felt like today was the day to do so. she had wanted to color her entire hair a nice green color, but there was only so much in the jar. Her hair had grown out more than she realized it did. 

She went on the line with her headphones in and it played a soft, melodic tune ㅡ one that she had on for the last fifteen minutes since she had neared the end of one of her last assignments. Curse past Brandi for asking her Professor for the first two post midterm assignments. And curse Professor King for giving it to her. 

The new barista on shift smiled sweetly at her and immediately went to make her an iced coffee. This may or may not have been her third drink for the morning, but she wasn't counting. Wasn't counting at all. Once the barista handed Brandi her drink, she smiled and paid her bill, then turned toward the corner of the cafe by the window and walked back to her seat. She sat there because it was close to the bathroom. 

Brandi had sat down just as the song ended, hearing the tinkle of the bell above the door, but not bothering to look at who had just entered. Her brother wasn't coming until 5pm anyway. She had turned the volume up to its highest level (because she needed no distractions and the song she was about to play deserved high volume) and unlocked her phone with ease. Then she spoke. 

* * *

**_They were on a mission._ **

A crazy mission at that, but it was for their concert vlog, so they had to. Renjun remembers their manager's words clearly once he handed Doyoung the Polaroid camera. 

_"We want you to find a person with a photo card in their phone case, of either of you. Or a person in green. Or a person listening to your music. And take a picture with them. It shouldn't be hard, your concert's in a few days, so everyone should be coming in right now. You have the small blue cafe across the street and this entire block to look for one before the hour is up."_

Renjun was just trying to figure out how he was supposed to find someone either in green, with his or Doyoung's photo card, and/or listening to any of their releases at one in the afternoon on a Wednesday. He supposed that they _could,_ but will the person want to take a picture with them? Like what if they find someone in a green plaid shirt and they don't even know either of them? Wouldn't it be weird to want to take a photo with a random stranger? He'd find it weird. 

"Let's try the cafe first." Renjun heard Doyoung say, and he looks at him before nodding. He supposed finding someone in green in the cafe was their safest bet. It felt like it was as well. Renjun would worry about the other options, but then again, he felt like it was near impossible. Someone with a Doyoung or Renjun photocard in their _phone case?_ Why would they put it in their photo cases in the first place? And why him? There were many other members to choose from. 

They walked inside the small cafe and was greeted by many empty chairs and tables. The line was relatively short, and _just their luck,_ the workers were all in black, some with red aprons on, but none in green. Doyoung clutched the pastel blue camera in his hand and slowly scanned the area. Just when he began to look at the far end of the establishment, a mellow voice quickly bounced off the walls of the cafe and spread around them like a wildfire. 

"Hey Siri." The voice said, and they snapped their head to see a woman sitting in the corner, her hair green and in a gigantic ball, and Renjun slaps Doyoung's arm about five times before Doyoung's brain manages to catch up with the image being projected and blares in his mind "GREEN! IT'S GREEN BITCH, GO TO THE GREEN!"

They start their journey off hesitantly, the lady had called out to Siri, but hadn't said what she wanted Siri to do yet, and Renjun sent a quick prayer that this was going in a better direction than it has been so far. They stopped completely when she began to speak again. 

"Play From Home by NCT." She said to the cellular device, and Renjun squeezed Doyoung's arm for about three seconds before the elder slapped his arm away. What are the odds? She has green hair AND she listens to their music?! What's next? She's gonna have their photo card in her phone case? 

Doyoung's feet worked faster than he could've processed, and in a few seconds, he was behind the lovely lady. He waited for the younger and drank in the female. Beautiful, curly black hair that somehow transitioned into a vibrant, yet light looking green color that clung onto the curls that formed into a gigantic ponytail. It was thick, resting nicely on the nape of copper colored skin that had a tiny bit of green on it as well. The rest of her was pressed on the back of the chair she sat on. 

Renjun tapped the smaller girl who flinched violently at the touch, causing Doyoung to flinch as well. She turned around with an annoyed look on her face that morphed into a look of disbelief. Okay, she _did_ know them and it wasn't a song she stumbled over and listened to a lot. She blinked, once. Then she blinked again. She then pulled up her copper colored hand, that was adorned with medium length black nails, a white one on her ring finger with a small logo on it. Renjun wondered what the logo was. 

Before anyone got a chance to speak, she turned around swiftly and looked at her iced coffee. Then she spoke again. "Hey Siri. Can coffee cause you to have hallucinations?" It caused Doyoung to laugh in response and for her head to snap up at the males once again. Her eyes widened in total denial for about ten seconds, before it transformed into realization, then transitioned into morbid horror. 

"Oh my gosh, I meet my ults and I look greasy, this can't be happening." Doyoung had heard the word ult a few times before, and because he knew the meaning, his smile got a little bit brighter. Did she mean ult as in their group? Or ult as in _them_? Either way, Doyoung was excited. Not even 30 seconds had gone by and they had already completed their mission. Well, found a viable option for it. 

"Hi, umm. We're currently on a mission to find someone with either a photo card of hyung and I, wearing green, or listening to our music. We are supposed to take photos with them. Is that okay with you?" Renjun had cut to the chase. They had a lot of time on their hands, but she gave off a vibe that she would go in a downwards spiral if no one had said anything soon. Besides, _they_ were the ones to tap on _her_ shoulder, not the other way around. 

The words had seemed to connect in their minds quicker than normal, and she subconsciously smoothed down her hair before nodding and squeaking out a yes in response. She was adorable. When she began to stand up, picking up her phone with her, Doyoung had noticed a few things. 

One, she was a bit shorter than he thought she would've been, maybe 159 or 160cm. Two, she had on a black shirt that said "Fuck Weekdays" tucked into black ripped jeans. Three, her lockscreen was a picture of both him _and_ Renjun. The odds were working in their favor yet again. Lastly, her ponytail was bigger than he thought it was. He saw how she moved the hair to rub the back of her neck and a lot more hair rounded up as it moved away from the skin it was pressed upon. 

"By the way, what is your name?" Renjun asks in English. He's been speaking to her in English this entire time, and Doyoung would like to commend the younger, his pronunciation was great. The smaller girl before them blinked a few times before introducing herself to the boys. Brandi. Brandi Jean. 

Renjun made small talk with her and Doyoung went outside to the manager to ask if the photo needed to be selfie mode or by someone else. Their manager was just surprised they had found someone so quickly. It had only been almost five minutes since they ran off with the mission at hand. The manager smiled and laughed before saying that they would take the picture and followed Doyoung along to the cafe. When they got inside, Doyoung could see how Brandi wasn't as stiff and nerve filled as when he left her. She was smiling and talking with her hands as Renjun laughed along to something she said. Her voice was still soft and fluffy. 

Doyoung came with their manager and she quickly offered a hand for him to shake. They exchanged pleasantries before he asked for her to stand in the middle of the two boys to take the photo. It was as awkward as they all thought it was going to be, but somehow they made it work. Their manager told them that they can also offer to take a photo with her on her phone as well, and she refused saying she didn't want to inconvenience them. She was actually so adorable. 

In the end, Renjun had told her that _he_ most certainly wanted a photo with her on _his_ phone, and that's how they got her to agree. She waved the boys goodbye and sat back down in her chair. 

"She was actually pretty nice." Their manager had said to them in Korean after they exited the cafe and went forth to the destination of their meet up. The boys had expressed their agreement through joyful yes's and nice giggles. Then they fell into conversation, with Renjun telling Doyoung the story Brandi had told him. Their manager related that Renjun and Doyoung were the first pair to finish their mission.

* * *

As they all gathered to their destination, Doyoung and Renjun realized that some of them came back with items, ranging from tiny ㅡ like the ring Chenle and Jeno came back with ㅡ to gigantic ㅡ like the bicycle Yangyang and Donghyuck hauled in that had two seats. Doyoung, Renjun, their manager and a few other staff had stood there for about fifty minutes, watching as they count down the seconds, before Mark and Sungchan ran toward them with two playing card decks. They were the last to join the squadron. 

The staff announced that Renjun and Doyoung were the first ones to arrive back, coming in seven minutes and forty-three seconds after the timer had been set, and effectively winning them a prize. Everyone, beside them had to explain their missions and show off the end product of their missions. Like, how Yuta and Xiaojun had to run after a squirrel who had took their bagel. Their mission was to try three different bread themed food and record their reactions. 

Johnny and Hendery had to buy a green frisbee, but the line for self check out was long and they had to wait because all of the other lines were long as well. Who the heck shops on a Wednesday? Jisung and Taeyong had to go to the highest point they could on the CN Tower, and both of them wanted to chicken out. It was just a bunch of random missions that they had to complete. Which was weird. Some of them had to buy stuff, others had to eat stuff, and more had to experience stuff. So why did Renjun and Doyoung have to search? 

When it was their turn to explain their missions, they did it with ease, despite the fact that the mission was dIFFIcult. Showing the pictures to the boys ㅡ which they hadn't seen yet by the way ㅡ made them curious about what it actually entailed. Most of them smiled automatically viewing it, some of them laughed endearingly, and Jisung blinked at it for about ten seconds before putting on his thinking face. Mark and Sungchan's eyes widened in conclusion, and disbelief. 

"We both had thought that we were going to be the last ones to complete our mission. And thought that finding someone with our photo cards in their phone case, or listening to our music was near impossible, so we both settled for finding someone wearing green. And then, by some gigantic miracle, the person we found had green hair and listened to our music. Even had her lock screen as the both of us specifically. It was like luck was on our side with this one." Doyoung had expressed, and it earned them a round of applause from the guys and the staff. 

They then all decided to head in their rental bus and drive to go get some lunch. Mark had turned around to face Renjun, who was behind him and smiled shyly at the younger. 

"Uh, say Renjun," Mark started, and the younger raised his head from his phone (where he was scrolling through instagram) and made a noise to tell the elder that he was listening. Sungchan had turned around as well, looking at Mark and nodding. Renjun found it weird, but didn't comment on it. 

"You remember how I was on the plane and I dropped my phone on the floor? And then Johnny hyung was beside me and asked what was wrong but I just repeatedly slapped his shoulder? And then you looked at us and shook your head before going _'yah, Mark Lee. What's with all the commotion?'_ and then I replied that there was this book that I wanted to buy really bad and they had it in stock in Toronto?" 

"I'm seeing your point, but you're taking a long time drawing your conclusion." 

"Okay, so there's this book, it's called Superiority and the author lives in Canada right now. Her book went on sale and as her announcement, she posted a picture of herself on the book's account and captioned it _'Superiority is gonna be on the shelves in Toronto this coming Wednesday!'_ and I really wanted that book, but the line was _so_ long. Then someone recognized me on the line and bought it for me and Sungchan. And then we both realized thatㅡ" 

"Mark, I'm missing the entire point to this right now. I thought I had it, but now it's gone. Draw your conclusion, pleASE." 

"Alright fine! You and Doyoung took a picture with the author of the book I bought today, and I was wondering if you had her information, because I won't be able to make it to her book signing tomorrow and I _really_ want this book signed. I've followed along with the book since it blew up online and then she made an NCT reference with one of her characters, but that's beside the point. Her book is _sooooo_ good, I should let you read it. They even let her keep her kpop references in here. Okay, I think I'm rambling again, but do you have it?" 

"Uh, I don't. We only took the picture and she introduced herself to us. Maybe the stylist noona has it? She went back inside after we left, so there's that. I mean, why would she need her contact information am I right? But she might have it." 

Mark slumped but still thanked Renjun anyway, calling him lucky and turning around. He then dug inside his backpack and pulled out the book, before turning around again and showing the younger the copy. "There's a Korean translation online as well, but this book is super easy to follow along. It has some big words too, haha, but it's easy to understand. Plus, I don't really like the Korean translation, some of it isn't direct, and they used popular parables in place of idioms. I mean, it makes sense, but it takes away the originality you know. There's also a Chinese translation online as well,"

Renjun's head snapped up at the thought of a Chinese translation to the book and it made him wonder, _how many translations does this one book have? And exactly how popular must it be for_ Mark _of all people to know about it? Unless he's always been reading online books._ Renjun tuned back in and listened as both Sungchan and Mark argued about the Korean translation, with Sungchan saying that Mark only liked the original over the translation because he understood the English version better. _That actually makes perfect sense._ Renjun thinks. 

He then exited out of Instagram and opened his browser, quickly punching in Superiority in English and seeing the definition of it in English as well, before scrolling down and seeing a link. He didn't really read much of it, just saw the title and the word book and clicked onto it. It took him to a book cover with a little girl with two curly ponytails on the top of her head and a blue and black mask covering her eyes as the word Superiority sits on her light blue suit in a dark bold font, and a white curly font covering over it in the front. 

He looked to see that it had ㅡ what the heck it had five million reads ! And a description that said something about five teen who're enrolling into a superhero academy, discovering their lives, and whatnot. Then he took the time to read the synopsis very thoroughly. 

> _**synopsis:**_ _in a world where powers were like an everyday thing, and portals were created to help the alternate worlds as a peace treaty, five young teens enroll in a school to mold them into the heroes of tomorrow. here's how they struggle with identity crisis, sexuality confusion, loss, gain, broken friendships, new found love, and the race to see who exactly, is_ superior.

Renjun liked the synopsis. It felt like it lacked a bit of flavor, but it gave him a feeling that he didn't know WHO they were, or WHAT the world was like, so he wanted to see it for himself. Before he could be tempted any further, the bus had stopped, and they all flooded out to go and fill their stomachs with a promising lunch. 

Renjun had spotted the stylist noona that went into the cafe after they did and quickly greeted her. The staff greeted back and he asked her if she knew about the book. The stylist noona nodded happily, pulling out the book and showing it to the idol. He noticed it had a signature at the top, and a To: with a name written in Korean and a small heart. Then she said that she had gotten her contact information, just in case the other members had read the book and wanted an autograph as well. The stylist noona even told Renjun that Brandi highly doubted that anyone in the group would've even read her story, and that she personally thought that the online version lacked the depth that the book provided. Well, there goes Renjun's chances of digging up the Chinese translation for it. 

Renjun then told the staff that both Mark and Sungchan were huge fans and had gotten the book while they were on their mission. The staff laughed and said that, since it was nearing three in the afternoon, if the food was brought on time and ate on time, they could catch Brandi back at the cafe before she left. They didn't go that far anyway. Just a ten minute drive away from the CN Tower, which was a minute or two walk away from the cafe. It worked out. Renjun thanked her kindly and walked over to Mark, who squealed like a hopeless girl in love and thanked Renjun a thousand times over, before going to the stylist noona and shaking her hand until Johnny pulled him away. 

Lunch was spent with them eating to their hearts' content, smiling and laughing and making fun of Mark who didn't even care. He just vibrated in his seat at the thought of getting the signature. Yangyang had asked Renjun in Chinese what was the cause of it, and then by some grand bottle of mystery, both he and Xiaojun groaned in frustration about not getting a book themselves. Seems like there were more members who read that book than Renjun had thought. He was pulled aside by Doyoung once the boys who had read the book had left to meet their newfound favorite author (along with Hyuck, who just wanted to go. Jisung, who just started reading the Korean version a few days ago by Sungchan's request, and Jaehyun, who just wanted to tease Mark for being excited) and showed him the picture they had taken with the smaller lady. 

Renjun stared at his face as it pulled the picture perfect smile. Somewhere in a mix between his idol smile that he was shifting into a real one, and Doyoung's real smile that was transitioning into a bigger one. And then he looked down and saw the brightest smile, with high cheekbones, and squinted eyes. She really was adorable. 


	2. This Is: Mini Book Signing Luck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brandi had just closed her laptop when she gets startled for the second time that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha, second chapter. 
> 
> also, i just posted this two days ago and people interacted with it already 'm soft don't touch me

**_Mark vibrated in his seat,_ **

as the bus pulled out of the parking lot, and bounded onward to the cafe, in which Renjun and Doyoung met one of his all-time favorite authors. 

Mark clutched onto the book as the nerves pulsated through him, soaring around him as if it were his blood. He _knew_ that Brandi knows him. I mean, she probably wouldn't have made the reference if she didn't. It just felt like, _Mark_ was the fan and _Brandi_ was the idol. _Is this how fans feel when they come to see us?_ Mark thought to himself as he loosened the grip on the edge of the book in his hand. Mark didn't want to dirty or ruin the book in any way. 

Mark hears how the stylist noona says that Brandi agreed in the back of his mind, once he remembers how he stumbled upon the book in the first place. He was scrolling through twitter aimlessly, laughing at a bunch of memes and posts as he waited for his food to arrive. Then, he saw that one of the fan accounts had a picture with words on it, and it had Neo Culture Technology circled in green. He then looked to see that the tweet had a couple thousand likes and scrolled back up to see the caption. 

_@BrandiJean.Official congrats on 500K and afjkndskjdncf i LIVE for this NCT reference._

He remembers reading the little snippet and laughing so hard that he slipped out of his chair. Then he looked in the replies and saw that the original poster had placed the link for everyone who was asking for the name of the book. He clicked on it immediately. Just like the tweet had said, the book was a whopping five hundred thousand reads in, and it had a decent amount of chapters as well. Mark liked to read from time to time, but he had never felt a connection with such a book as this.

He even remembers when the cover of the book was a picture of cherry blossoms and the word _Superiority_ was in cursive and in black at the bottom. Mark didn't know that he was so far gone in the book until Johnny tapped his shoulder and placed his food in front of him, saying "You're lucky you paid with your own card while ordering." If they all noticed how he had his head glued to his phone the entire week, they didn't say anything about it. 

Mark hates to admit it, but the book had taken him through a whirlwind of emotions. From laughing at the twin's antics at the beginning of the book, to finding something iffy about Jerry and yelling out "I was right! He is a snake!" at four in the morning. He remembered crying a lot as well. Wanting to hurt Mr. King for trying to punish Mia for something that piece of shit Malcom did. Wanting to take N by the hand and waddle them up in blankets because he thought that N needed to be protected. 

Mark remembers waiting every Saturday morning at 9am for a chapter to be updated after being left with such hard hitting news that N and Mason had to face each other in a competition for finals. Mark remembers crying when Jerry ambused Mia and Sky two days before finals. Mark remembers praying for the first time in a while that day, praying that Mia could access her link with Mason in the next chapter. Mark remembers waking up Johnny that Saturday morning as he cried in victory seeing that Jerry was finally expelled. 

Mark would like to think that this book has helped him through a lot. The book has caused him to pick up on his own fatigue and the drilling want in the back of his mind that he tuned out a while ago that told him he was on the verge of being extremely overworked. Mark took some of the advice to heart, like the advice Mia gave to Mason about not relying on their link for Mia to know when he wasn't okay. It's not like he had a telepathic link with someone, but he often relied on his closeness with the other members to let him not have to worry about expressing certain emotions, thinking that since they were close, they'd know that he was down and about. The book transcended the limitations of just being a book that talked about superheroes. It transcended being a book that had students fighting crime in a world that wasn't his own. And Mark _knew_ that he wasn't the only one who thought so. 

Mark remembers when the book was two chapters away from ending and Brandi had caught a fever from balancing her college life and the book itself. Mark remembers Brandi's biggest supporter, a person that went by the name JaeAnderson26 suggesting that they all get the book to one million views that weekend. Mark remembers the notification he got at 4:43 in the afternoon, with Brandi saying that she was crying her heart out over the fact that Superiority actually achieved its goal. It had been two days since the suggestion was even brought up. So yeah, meeting Brandi was such a big deal to him. 

He looks around to see Hendery, Yangyang and Xiaojun sit in the back with Sungchan, Yangyang saying how nothing beats the original version, and Sungchan groaning and saying that Mark said the same thing. He looks on his side to see Johnny showing Jaehyun something on his phone, and Jaehyun looking up to tell Johnny that one particular paragraph was written so well. Seems like Johnny had taken his advice and read it as well. Donghyuck sits in the front of them with Jisung by his side, and Mark smiles once he hears how the younger was telling Hyuck to look for it on his own phone because he was too far into the book to go back to the beginning. Mark snorts when Hyuck asks him how far, and Jisung confidently replies that he's on Chapter 8. Mark thinks that that's pretty far in the book as well. 

"I'm so nervous." Mark hears Sungchan say, and he turns around to see Sungchan wipe his hands on his jeans with his book still in a small bag. Hyuck laughs and asks, "What're you so nervous about? She's probably going to be more nervous than you are. She's a fan of us, remember?" And that causes Sungchan to rub his _just_ _a tiny bit faster_ on his jeans. 

"I know that she's an Nctzen Haechan hyung," Sungchan starts, and Mark looks to see the younger gulping before he speaks again, "but her book means a lot to me. And don't say that it's just a book until you sit your ass down and read at least three chapters of it. So yeah, she's going to be nervous that we're coming to ask her to sign our books, but know that we're nervous as well." Jisung chuckles to himself and Donghyuck crossed his arms in front of himself, muttering to Jisung to hurry up send him the link to the darn book already. Before they knew it, they had arrived to the cafe, and Mark had felt his own bit of nerves trickle back and electrify him.

Time to meet Brandi. 

* * *

**_Brandi had just closed her laptop_ **

when she gets startled for the second time that day. 

My Everything had just finished playing, and it was going to repeat itself before she stopped it, since she had finished her last assignment. She hears the feet scurrying around her, but doesn't pay it any mind as she emails it to her Professor and sends it his way. And then she closes it, and looks up to see Jisung Park blinking slowly as he stands in front of her. 

It was around 4:16 that afternoon and she had to blink away the 41 hours of sleep deprivation that was clouding her mind for the second time today. _Aaaaaaand then_ she realizes that last time _wasn't_ an hallucination. Jisung smiles softly, lifting up his ginormous hand and waving it awkwardly as he croaks out a hello. Brandi squeaks in return and almost slams her head to the table to cover her face. She hears a soft airy giggle behind her, and she groans at the sound. 

Brandi then lifts her head up first, staring at how Sungchan had stood to Jisung's left, and Johnny to Jisung's right. Jisung sported a small, shy smile, Sungchan was fiddling with a tiny bag and Johnny placed a sly smile on his face. Brandi then sat up straight and pushed her chair back a tiny bit before standing up and turning around. There stood Mark, with a tiny bag in his hand as well, along with Xiaojun, Hendery, Yangyang, Donghyuck and Jaehyun. They all shot her nice, small smiles and she tried to wrap her head around the entire ordeal. Then she sees the lady from earlier behind them all and everything catches up to her sleep deprived mind. 

"Why am I meeting all of you on negative forty one hours of sleep and an extremely greasy face? Whose life did I save _and_ destroy to go through this beautiful, yet hurtful moment?" Brandi had slipped out, before she realized and cursed her sleep deprived mind for excluding her brain to mouth filter. She then pats her cheeks twice and smiles, introducing herself to the others. 

"Hello, it's nice to meet all of you. I'm Brandi Jean and I'm a really big fan of your music." Brandi had managed to spit out, and she saw how Mark continuously slapped Jaehyun's arm before the elder pushed it away and noogied him. She hears Johnny's voice from behind her and turns around to look at him. 

"Hi there Brandi, we're all avid readers of your book Superiority as well. It was actually very well written and inspiring in many ways. Although I had to listen to Mark screech out at nine in the morning once because of it." 

"HEY! JOHNNY DON'T EXPOSE ME!" 

"Hehe, was it because of the fight or something?" Jaehyun asked behind her, and Brandi was going to get whiplash with how much she was turning to see everyone. Luckily, the worker noticed and told everyone to grab a chair and sit down. 

The first thing someone says after they all get seated is, "I told you the others would've read your story as well Brandi." And it causes Brandi to smile big and place her face in her hands. Mark found it endearing. 

"It's showing itself to me so clearly and I still can't believe it." Brandi replies and the few of them laughed in response. "Were any of you angry that I used your group name in the book, or a few of your songs? If so, I'll take it out immediately. Heck, I'll even call my editor right now. He'll be kind of pissed, but he _did_ say that I needed your permission." When Brandi got no's and laughs in response, she visibly relaxed. 

Mark then makes a noise as if he had remembered something, and suddenly her book is being pushed from across the table and reaches her with the tiny bag below it. She looks up in surprise. _Mark fricking Lee has the hard cover to **my** book. Oh my gosh when I go to sleep it'll be because I cried about this. _

"Uhhh......Sungchan had both gotten a copy earlier today, and because we're going to be busy around the time your book signing is in swing, we wanted to know if you could sign it for us right now. O-Only if you want to though, if not, then y-you don't have to. Just getting the hard copy is unbelievable right now. Seeing you and talking to you is unbeliㅡ" 

"Alright Mark, we get it, you're a fanboy." Donghyuck says in Korean, and Brandi caught onto a few of the words and connected the dots to figure out the rest. Brandi squeals a bit too loud and picks up her bag to take out her favorite pen. It was a glittery black color that had a small keychain hanging from it. Brandi forgot that the keychain had a gold sun on it and presses the top, opening the book and staring in Mark's general direction, and not directly at him.   
  


"Do you want me to write anything to you while I sign it Mark?" Brandi had asked so casually that it made a few of them see her as someone who had done this a million times. She didn't even notice Sungchan smiling once he saw that the pen was in her left hand. 

"You can put whatever you want in there. Even if you put To: Mark Lee. :) chicken nuggies, I'd be so happy." Brandi nods and begins to write out her message. She misses how Donghyuck and Jaehyun teases Mark in Korean as she continues to write what she wanted to say to the older. Then, she puts in a slightly large B and an equally large J before finishing her last name and putting a tiny heart at the end. 

Brandi places the book back on the small bag and pushes it back to its owner. Jaehyun snatches the book before Mark could even get a chance, and holds it away from the younger as he silently reads it. The more in depth he gets into the mini paragraph, the more his resolve crumbles, and before he could've finished, Mark snatches the book away from the elder and pushes it close to his chest. Jaehyun's eyes softens completely as he watches Sungchan shyly push his copy to the smaller female. She was actually very thoughtful. 

"Can you put, To: Sungchan Jung. Nice rapper and whatever else you want to for mine please?" And Jaehyun's heart swoons once he listens to how the female giggles and enthusiastically says "Alrighty Sungchannie!" He then sees how she looks to her right and smiles shyly to Johnny who immediately aids her in whatever she needed help with. Jaehyun especially watches how Donghyuck snaps his head toward her once he hears the translation to whatever it was Brandi had asked Johnny for help with. Johnny had even congratulated her for her Korean spelling and how neat her handwriting looked. Brandi smiled and squeaked in return. 

Jaehyun couldn't hear whatever it was that Johnny had translated to Brandi, since he was on the other side of the table, but seeing how Donghyuck had glanced over to the owner of the book being signed made Jaehyun sink in his seat as he watched the smaller female be so selfless and kind while signing Sungchan's book. Then she cutely shouts out that she was done and slides the book back.   
  
  


"I am not going to tell you guys what and what not to do, but a humble suggestion, is that you read it when you're back in your rooms. Or in the vehicle to your next schedule, or whenever. Just not in front of me because that's embarrassing." The table laughs and the others had talked about what they had liked about the book as well.   
  
  


Xiaojun and Yangyang goes back into an argument on which version was better, and Brandi peeps out that although she doesn't know what the other translations entail, the translators had tried their best with her book, and that all versions were the better version. Then Mark goes on about how the Korean version changed the idioms into parables and how it lost its spark because of it. Mark shuts up when Donghyuck asks him to translate the original to Korean without using the parables. Everyone laughs in response as well. 

"Ugh, I went to order the book online on the way here but it was out of stock. I'm big sad now." Hendery blurts out in English, once Mark and Yangyang start to gang up on Jisung and Sungchan in Korean about the vast difference in books, despite Brandi's heartwarming fact check, and Brandi's head snaps up so fast that Johnny looked at her in concern. 

"It's sold out online? That's impossible. I sent like seven thousand copies to three online websites each!" Brandi responded and Mark stops his argument to look at the author. 

"When we went to get the book, the line for the bookstore was going nearing the pedestrian crossing down the street. Someone on the line spotted both Sungchan and I and got us both a copy. When she came out, she said that there were like four more in stock. She also said that two of her friends went to the other two stores and when they got in, only two or three more copies were left. I don't know if you didn't think anybody was going to buy your book, but I heard that the store we went to opened at like, 11:45 this morning. We got there at like 1:03 I think, and they were already almost sold out." 

"Ahhhh, that means I should've listened to my editor. He's going to rub this in my face. I just know he will. Good thing he went behind my back and ordered them to copy like nine thousand more to get shipped to the other stores tonight. This is so unbelievable though. That means I had to probably double the publishing for both the pre-orders and the actual sales when I get it to be sold in America. This is insane." 

"How much did you agree to publishing in the first place Brandi?" Johnny found himself asking, and when he heard that it was only about fifty thousand copies, he didn't know whether to be shocked that, _that_ much got sold out in a few hours, or perplexed that she thought a book as big as her own only needed that amount to be sold. 

"I know you might've thought one million copies were wishful thinking, but I feel like that the number you should've went with." Jaehyun says from the side and Brandi squeaks out "ONE MILLION?! I thought one hundred thousand copies were wishful thinking. One million copies sounds like a case of economical loss." 

Mark had replied that he didn't even know they were having pre-orders and it causes everyone to laugh boisterously. A buzz causes everyone to look at the smaller female and she startles once she reads whatever is on her screen. 

"Guys it's almost five in the evening. My older brother is outside waiting for me. It was nice to meet you all, and thank you so much for finding interest in Superiority. It actually means so much to me that you guys have read it and that you enjoyed it. If you'd like a copy, I have a few left over from sending them to my family and friends and I'd be honored to give it to you guys and sign it, only if you want me to. Also, I'll contact Miyeon about the Korean Translation of it to be published, if that's what you guys would want me to do? Once again, thank you so much! Good luck in your concert and in your careers!" 

And with that, Brandi was gone. 

* * *

**_Mark squeals out loud,_ **

once they get in the bus to head back to the hotel, after completing another schedule. Taeyong, who's on the side of him shoots up and looks at the younger in worry and confusion. Once the elder sees the book in the younger's hands, he shook his head and rests his head back on the chair. Taeyong shoots up once again once he hears the younger sniffle beside him. 

"Hey hey hey, what's wrong Mark?" He whispers in question, and the younger looks at him before taking his sweater paws and dabbing at his eyes. Taeyong waits until Mark's done before he rests his head on Mark's shoulder and asks once again. 

"Hyung, i-it's nothing. I'm just so moved by what Brandi wrote when she signed my book." Mark replies and Taeyong giggles, causing the younger to whine out in embarrassment. 

"Can you read it out to me? I feel like she wrote it in English." Mark laughs, but obliges, translating half of the paragraph, before getting to a certain part and choking up once again. Before Taeyong could've told him not to read it if he felt like crying again, Mark presses through, and with a stuffy voice, he continues to translate the message to Taeyong. In the end, Taeyong blamed his tears on the open window and Mark laughs in return, saying that he should've done that as well. 

_Brandi is adorable._ Taeyong thinks. 

* * *

**_At three in the morning,_ **

Sungchan waves Shotaro goodbye and walks into his shared room with Taeil. Taeil has a small book in his hand and his eyes droop a bit before the elder shakes it off and tries to finish it. 

"We have to be up and out by 10am hyung," Sungchan starts to say, and he watches as Taeil startles and snaps his head up at the younger, who's taking off his shirt and walking to the bathroom to wash off his face with his skin care bag. Then he pokes his head out of the door to finish his statement, "You should get some rest. And no, sleeping on the bus and then singing karaoke with Doyoung hyung is _not_ rest." 

Taeil shakes his head at the younger's words, but felt as the sleep started to hug him as if it hadn't seen him in a long time.

"Make sure you go to sleep as well then. Good night Sungchan." 

"Good night hyung!" He replies once he finishes his night routine, and walks over to see that Taeil had already drifted off to sleep. Sungchan's phone buzzes in his sweatpant pocket, and he pulls it out to see a message from Mark that consisted of crying emojis and one that said "Brandi is literally the sweetest person ever. Sorry I don't make the rules." 

Sungchan laughs softly and replies to the elder, asking him to give him a moment to read his and got the tiny bag out of his backpack, bringing it with him to his bed. Reading before going to sleep isn't such a bad idea, and it's not like Sungchan is _bad_ at English, he's just not all that confident in speaking it because the grammar is quite different. 

The tall male slowly takes the book out of the bag and stares at the young girl with her hero suit on, smiling at the fact that he could've felt the words on the cover of the book. The pieces that stuck out along the letters of the title made him content, and when he opened the book and saw neat, legible Korean written out, the tears came before he could've stopped himself. The brunet swiftly picked up his phone and immediately called the elder, who picked up greeting him with, "Brandi's really sweet, isn't she?" and it causes the younger to cry even more. 

"Hyung, she wrote me a message in Korean." Is what the younger spat out, and the other line was dead for about a minute before he could've heard Chenle asking the elder what was wrong. After reassuring Chenle, Mark turned back to the conversation. 

"What did she say?" Mark had asked, and Sungchan looked down with the realization that he hadn't even read Brandi's message as yet. Once Sungchan had started to read the message, both of the boys were a sobbing mess. Mark had translated his message to Sungchan, and they both laughed once Chenle asked once again if everything was alright. Then Mark told him that Chenle was kind of crying too, and Sungchan laughed once Mark groans in pain and Chenle beats him up for being exposed. 

They all ended up going to the bus with tired eyes and sluggish moves, but they carried along the energy once they went through concert practice that day. 

_Brandi is adorable._ Taeil thinks as he watches Sungchan make the people around him laugh by telling them how Chenle ended up crying as well. 

As long as they don't know that Taeil cried as well, everything was all okay.


	3. This Is: A Transitional Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renjun thinks it's fate. Doyoung just thinks it's funny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello ! i have been gone for a hot ass minute and i apologize for that. here is chapter three !

_**Renjun thinks it's fate.** _

Doyoung just thinks it's funny. The two were always somehow on both sides of a coin when it came to certain things. And the day of the rehearsal made it much more known to them that _this_ was a coin moment as well. 

Renjun had absentmindedly expressed how he thought the entire _Brandi being the person they got help from for the mission_ thing was just fate falling into place once more. And at first, Doyoung had agreed. It was crazy how they managed to go to the cafe, and immediately spot one of their requirements for their mission. Fate was on their side, and both of them seemed to think so. Until Doyoung began to think about it some more. 

It didn't make sense, and that's what Doyoung found very funny. He knew that some missions were thought about on the spot, considering that the entire mission quest thing was a last minute decision as well. How did a girl with green hair, (not all of it ㅡ but that's beside the point) who listened to their music, AND had those two members specifically as her lock screen happen to be in the exact same cafe they needed to check?

At first, Doyoung sat up that night, and had began to doubt Brandi. Doyoung began to think about all of the worst possibilities and tie it into Brandi's story. Surely, if she was a fan of their group, she would've known that they were on tour. Surely, if that was the case, she would've known when they were in Toronto. Doyoung hoped and prayed that Brandi wasn't a stalker, and hadn't set the entire thing up, but the more he laid awake thinking about it, the more plausible it seemed. 

But then, Doyoung remembered the fact that she couldn't believe they were there. Unless she was studying to become an actress, she wouldn't have been so nervous. He remembered the fatigue that settled in her as she sat in her chair, and then he realized that he was overreacting to the entire thing. All in all, it just didn't make sense to Doyoung. 

For now though, he'll continue to think it was actually fate, instead of trying to unintentionally blame the girl without any evidence. 

* * *

**_Doyoung had sat down_ **

after finishing the first part of rehearsal, their staff giving them a break to eat lunch and catch themselves. They were still a few staff who stayed there with cameras in their hands and on their shoulders, but most of them were off, and being checked on. He took his bottle of water, and opened it, before drinking a few mouths full and closing the bottle back. Kun sits in front of him with a tired smile, in which the male returns. Yangyang comes a few seconds later and sits down as well, waving to Doyoung and resting his head on Kun's shoulder. They then began to bicker in Chinese. 

Doyoung smiles softly and listens to Chenle shriek, followed by laughter, and turns slightly to see the younger with his hand over Mark's mouth, Sungchan standing behind them laughing, telling his same aged friend that the cat was already out of the bag. Chenle sighed and dropped his hand. Renjun sits with his arm slung on Xiaojun's shoulder, and the elder is doing the same to him. They're laughing as they watch the scene unfold. 

Donghyuck is sitting down with Johnny, Jaehyun and Jisung, three of them with their heads in their phones and Johnny laughing once Jisung softly gasps beside him. Taeyong walks past them, before turning back and asking them to take their heads out of their phones. They all hum in response, and Johnny just shrugs at their leader. 

Lucas, Hendery, Shotaro, and Ten are in the corner playing some kind of hand game, and Shotaro laughs when Hendery's eyebrows shoot up in the sky, but his face sort of remains neutral. Probably a round of fire. Doyoung smiled at them and left it all alone. 

On the walkway to the extended stage were Jungwoo, Taeil, Yuta, Jaemin and Jeno. Jungwoo, Jaemin and Yuta were catwalking, with Jeno and Taeil acting like they were the background music. Sicheng stood with them as well, but he was more so minding his own business, which made Doyoung call out to him, asking him to come sit in their little entourage. Sicheng accepted the offer. He even slapped Yangyang in the back of his head as he went to sit down, causing Kun and Doyoung to laugh, and Yangyang to look at him in disbelief. 

"All I get around here is _disrespect_." The youngest of the four spat out, and it caused the three to laugh at his words. "See? Same shit." He replied, and Sicheng retorted with a "No cursing." that caused him to deflate. It was nice, this was nice. 

The members all continued their mini greetings, cheering wildly, and helping the staff once the food had arrived. They all sat together along the edge of the stage and munched on their food, with everyone making small talk once again. Sungchan and Mark avoided all questions from the others, asking about their mini book signing, and simultaneously slapped Chenle's back when he teased that "If you guys keep asking, they're gonna cry again." It then causes Taeyong to recount that Mark, _did, in fact_ cry when he read the message, which caused Mark to tell them that Taeyong had cried as well when he translated it. 

The rest of lunch had went by smoothly ㅡ well as smoothly as it could after they got quiet, and then Sungchan ended up relaying to the _entire_ team that Chenle cried as well, causing them all to laugh. Chenle then chases after Sungchan for about five seconds, before Doyoung told them to sit the _fuck_ down and let their food digest first. 

They all had lounged around, letting their food digest and after about half an hour, some of the boys got back up to indulge themselves in more practice. Doyoung knew that something was about to happen when he sees the stylist noona who went with their members yesterday, answer a call and head out of the venue. The black haired male looked around and saw that no one else seemed to notice it either. 

Ten minutes later, and Doyoung's hunch was proven right, once he sees the stylist noona come back, and walk for a bit, before she notices something. She then turns back around to the exit and stays out there for almost a whole minute before coming back out with the girl who plagued his mind the night before.

Maybe Renjun was right, and this entire thing was fate after all. Doyoung had checked his phone and noticed that it was about 1:46 pm. Guilt swam through his veins and regret planted itself in his heart, causing Doyoung to run a million apologies in his head to say to the girl, even though she wouldn't know what he did wrong. He swallowed it down once he saw that a very tall man was behind the two, with a box in his hands as he followed them. 

One by one, they all seemed to notice the new people. Donghyuck literally stopped dancing, and stumbled backward, accidentally stepping on Taeil's toe and turns around, stuttering out an endless amount of apologies that confused the elder, but he accepted them anyway. Who knows when Hyuck would actually apologize to him like this again?

It all happened so fast after that. Once the small female _(whose hair was now a full green color, and sat in two small buns on the top of her head, with the rest of hair out, and fluffed with curls in the back, and two braids on either side of her face, adorned with gold pieces and clips)_ reached to the stage with their stylist, Renjun passed him as a blur, and when Doyoung blinked, the younger was already in front of Brandi, animatedly talking, and greeting the _much_ taller man with her, gesturing her for the stage. 

"Hello everybody! My name is Brandi Jean, and I am a huge fan of your music! It's nice to meet you guys in person." The green haired female said with a nice pearled smile on her face. Beautiful brown eyes hiding behind copper lids and adorned hands in the air as they wave to the people before her. Everyone snaps out of their daze and ventures toward the two people. 

"Oh, and this is my editor Matt. He laughed at me when I told him you guys thought I should've made a million copies. And then he called and order seven hundred thousand for the pre-order, and then another 100K for more stores in Toronto. So, he's kind of glad you guys _knocked some sense into me._ Matt say hi to the guys." 

Matt stood there with the box in his hand, before Johnny and Lucas came up to the male and took the box from him, and carried it to the edge of the stage. When they came back, Matt opened his mouth, and a voice deep, yet soft filtered through the air as the taller _(and I mean wayyyyy taller. the dude's taller than fricking JOHNNY AND LUCAS)_ introduced himself to them. 

"Hi, my name is Matt. I attend the same university as Brandi, and I am her appointed editor for Superiority. It's nice to meet you all. I really like Resonance by the way. Brandi had the aux cord and all she did was play Resonance on the way here." 

Everyone laughed a bit after being shocked that Brandi's editor was actually a student as well. Matt then tells them that he goes to university part time to collect his Masters Degree. He's mostly at the publishing company. They all were astonished once more. Matt worked and did school. They commended him for it. 

"Well, we actually brought some books for anyone who would want a copy. I talked to Miyeon about the Korean translation of the book, and she said that she was going to see what happens. If not, I'll just ask her for the work and Matt will print it out for you guys to have a hard copy. Only if you would like one though. Oh gosh, now I sound like a businesswoman. Pamela's persuasive nature is rubbing off on me. Okay, I remember having books to sign and thankful words to say." 

And that's how they spent the rest of their time. With Johnny and Yangyang helping her with the messages she wanted to tell them. All of them just wanted her to write whatever she felt like. Doyoung found himself getting a book as well. He'd read the Korean version later on, but for now, he'll watch as Brandi's eyes light up when she sees them and writes whatever she wishes. Matt talks with the others and laughs _quite_ loudly once they retell the story on how Mark cried about what Brandi wrote. 

Halfway through, they found out that Matt was actually biracial, with his mother being Korean, and his father being a person of color. He had switched over to Korean once Donghyuck came with a giddy smile on his face, telling everyone that he was now _Brandi's little sunflower._ Hendery coughs out how quickly Hyuck's heart changed, causing Hyuck to kick the older in the shin. 

"Brandi's nice isn't she?" Matt asks in Korean, and it shocks the boys who were laughing at Hyuck and Hendery. Doyoung agrees with Matt and it seems to take them out of their trance. 

"She actually had talked about you guys on the phone with me this morning. Well...... yeah 11am _is still_ morning. She was happy that you guys had found interest in her book, and it made her so grateful that the people she looks up to, likes something that she wrote so passionately. She's has a kind heart and a golden spirit, and although she's your fan, she never once talk about you guys in a way that made it feel like it was just fan and artist. She spoke about you guys like you meant so much to her, and I realized that, maybe you guys are. Coming here was a pretty big deal for her. She thought that bringing more books than _necessary_ would be wishful thinking. Oh, and now I'm rambling, I sound like my little brother." 

"We're happy to be people she can look up to, although we have flaws of our own. Her book actually means a lot to me, much more than I'd like to admit sometimes. It has helped me in so many ways, screwed my head on straight too many times, and kept me in check. Hell, I even find myself in situations where things aren't right and calm myself down with quotes from her book. Bringing a box filled with her work was more than enough, and not wishful thinking in the slightest. If the others don't want them, I'll be glad to say that I own several copies of my favorite book. So she should stop doubting her work. It's super big. And that's coming from Mark Lee of NCT." 

Everyone had agreed with both males, and Jisung squeaked out, causing them all to turn around and look over, concerned. There, stood Johnny, with his hands over his face, and Yangyang in the same position, both of them turning away from the crowd. A sniffle from the younger of the two crybabies, made them realize that the boys were crying. 

Matt, Doyoung and Taeil stayed behind, with Matt relaying his ethnic background to the two, and them asking him questions that they hesitated on asking in the first place. They didn't want to be nosy. Then, Doyoung decided to be nosy, just this once, and ask a question he had in his head for quite a bit. 

"So, when you were talking about Brandi, you said something about being like your younger brother?" 

"Oh, yeah. I have a younger brother who has the _hugest_ crush on Brandi. He wouldn't talk to her, but he could spend hours talking about her. Apparently, they're in the same Creative Writing class, and Superiority came about from an assignment. Jae came home totally in love the day of their presentation. He even supported her when she put it out on the internet. So when I rambled a bit, it made me think that I sounded _just_ like him." 

"How long has he had a crush on her? I know Mark started reading the book when it got around 500K, and that had about, twenty? Twenty-three chapters then? Like around half a year ago."

"Jae's gonna kill me if he finds out about this, but in a few days, it's going to be a year since they presented their piece. So almost a year. It's crazy how I'm her editor and they still _never_ had a conversation before. Fate works in mysterious ways." 

"Have you ever tried asking Brandi to see if she liked someone? Maybe she's focusing on her work or something, but it would be nice to know, see if your brother has a chance with her." Taeil cautiously asks. 

"Even if Jae had a chance, the boy has set it in stone that he's going to have a crush on her from afar. I don't want to pry either." 

Before the three could talk even more, Jisung held his book close to his chest and the boys had stopped crying. Brandi came down from the stage, with Jeno catching her, and settling her to the floor. She smiled brightly and thanked the peach haired male, before walking over to Matt. Taeil and Doyoung obviously didn't expect Matt to ask her right then and there. Or at all, the dude said that he didn't want to pry.

"Hey, Brandi, are you interested in someone right now?" Matt asked, hands stuffed in his pockets and Brandi stopped smiling, before glaring at the taller male. Then she giggled. 

"Why? Know someone who likes me? You have questionable friends, but if they do like me, I'll let them down gently." 

"I mean, even though I'm your editor, you literally talk to me and Pam about a lot of stuff, you know. Just noticed you never mentioned that you had a crush on someone or something." 

"Oh." Brandi squeaked out, and Matt raised his eyebrow calculatingly at the smaller female. 

"Uh, I tried not to talk to you about those kinds of stuff, because I thought that, maybe you weren't interested in hearing that kind of stuff from me." Brandi said, shrugging her shoulders as if it was something nonchalant. 

"But, if you'd like to know, there's this dude in my Creative Writing class. I had came a bit later than usual once, and he sat near my usual seat. When I came, he removed his bag and moved so that I can pass. I tried to talk to him, but he was gone when I finished packing. I don't know if I like him or anything, but after that, he did so a few more times, and I find that really sweet. If only I could talk to him though. Oh well." 

And with that Brandi walked off, going over to Donghyuck and watching him dance with the Dreamies, before Lucas offered to lift her up on the stage. She declined and told him that she was going to leave soon in any event. That made Matt check the time. And then Matt practically grabbed Brandi and sprinted out of there. Brandi said her salutations, wished them luck and then, they were gone, out of their lives for a while. 

* * *

_**Brandi smiles,** _

as she walks out of the rental car and stares at the building in front of her. The now braided haired female rubbed her hands on her jeans, and pulled her purse out of said car, before closing the door and locking the rental. 

She fixes her hair a bit, before exhaling, and then, she walks over to the building, determined to spend her summer doing the best that she can. 

Brandi enters the building, and stops over to the reception desk, the lady behind it smiling brightly at her and greeting her kindly, before handing her a work ID and wishing her good luck on her first day. 

The small female walked around the building in awe, starry eyed and high spirits as she looks at the place she'll be for the next eight to ten weeks. A taller female came up to her with a smile and finished showing her around the building, before showing her the little space in which she'll be for her internship. Brandi just couldn't believe that she was actually here. 

The small female had stayed still by her mini office, signing in and making sure she was doing things correctly, before a director had come inside her office and smiled tightly at her. Brandi felt very hostile by the way he smiled, but relaxed once he introduced himself, and asked if she was the intern that rolled up to the interview with Gods Menu on full volume. Embarrassed, Brandi nodded her head, and rubbed her neck sheepishly. She was startled, however when the director sighed in relief and asked her to come with him. 

"I know this is sudden, but our next interview is in about an hour and a half, and our interviewer's wife water broke. She had to rush out immediately to care for her wife you know. Considering that most people had projects to complete, we needed someone to help us with this interview, and Sheila immediately suggested you. All you'll have to do is hold up question cards for them to read, or you can ask them it and they'll answer. Really simple right? Good. They're a huge group, and it will be more than one interview, so just be prepared for that." 

When the director had finished explaining, they were in front of a door, in which the director opened and gestured for Brandi to go inside. The small female obliged, pushing her braids out of the way and walked inside of the room. It was actually more spacious than she initially thought. Maybe it really was a large group. Brandi wondered who it could've been.

Was it Treasure? Or maybe it was The Boyz? Or maybe even Seventeen? Oh, that reminded her of a shocking picture she saw recently. Before she could even think any further, the door opens once more, and people are filing in, with suitcases and bags, pushing their way into a tent that Brandi hadn't even noticed until now. 

The director, had gestured for her to meet the staff, and despite her nerves, she introduced herself pretty cheerily. The staff was really kind to her and she even made friends with Diana, the translator for the day. Diana had told her how, although it may look like a lot of people, it was actually a bit understaffed, and most of the people here were cameramen and camerawomen, because of how big the group they were interviewing was. 

Just when Brandi went to ask exactly _who_ this group was that she had the honor to interview on her very first day of her internship, an all too familiar voice called out to her from behind. Then it clicked. It's _literally_ a big group. 

She turns around with a nervous smile and looks to see Mark with Donghyuck and three other males that she knew by heart, seeing as they were rather new. 

"Oh gosh, Brandi it's really you." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that was chapter three. also, the time skip was so sudden omg 'm so sorry. if you'd like me to speak on what happened within that year (aHEM with Brandi and Jae cause something DID happen) let me know and i will. enjoy the rest of your day, and see you next time


End file.
